Have you ever wondered what it's like to die?
Since the dawn of human intelligence, this question has been researched, debated, and discussed by people of all ages, races, and backgrounds.
Some talked about going to Heaven or Hell, while others argued that we would enter a cycle of reincarnation.
As for me, I'd say I'm one of those who thought we'd just disappear into nothingness.
Yet, at the end of the day, nobody really knows what awaits us on the other side.
Everyone is terrified of dying as their light slowly fades, and this fear drives people to create belief systems just to make the thought of death a little more bearable.
Anyway... Why am I even bringing this up? Honestly, I have no idea.
Since all I have is a strange silence, I'm just trying to distract myself with my own inner voice. Maybe trying not to lose my mind, who knows. There's no telling how time even passes in a place like this.
I'm not even sure where I am. At least I don't remember how I got here. I suppose this must be some kind of nightmare I'm about to wake up from. I've had a horrible workload lately. I've been having nightmares for a while now anyway.
What was I doing last time? Ah, right... Lying in my wide, cool bed, reading a novel on my tablet in the dead of night, right near the end. Don't call it a novel; it was a piece of trash stuffed with cheap clichés, plot holes, and the author blatantly giving zero fucks about the reader. All the female characters were throwing themselves into the protagonist's arms like they shared a single brain cell, and the guy's system kept pulling random-ass power-ups out of its ass so that lazy bum could reach the top of the universe without putting in any actual effort.
Whoever wrote this novel, I'd never seen such a shameless amount of plot armor. And not just that the author wiped characters' intelligences on a whim, sacrificing even the most sensible figures just to make the protagonist look cool. The world building was actually decent, but the main character ruined literally everything.
So right at the end, while I was reading, when I saw a character I actually liked someone who had at least stood their ground from the very beginning suddenly turn into a brainless simp attached to the main character, my blood boiled. I got so pissed I hurled my tablet at the wall and buried myself under the blanket.
And after that, I found myself in this weird void.
Now I don't even know what I'm supposed to do. Everything is so bizarre. If I died, I guess I should've expected something like this. After all, I always thought we'd just vanish into nothingness, but I don't look all that vanished.
So what now—
[Ding! System installation complete!]
[Helper System successfully loaded!]
[Host's soul detected drifting in darkness!]
[Searching for a suitable universe for the Host...]
[Searching...]
[Searching...]
[Universe detected!]
[Loading information...]
[The Strongest Hero Takes It All, selected!]
When I heard that mechanical, ice-cold voice in my brain, I froze for a second.
Wait, hold on a minute—that trashy novel? No way! I've read so many things, out of all the much higher-quality universes out there, you picked the book I spent the middle of the night cursing out?
However, before the system gave me a chance to talk back, it popped up another screen.
[Please select a character!]
[Roxana]
[Aeri]
[Beatrix Throne]
My jaw dropped as I stared at the names on the screen. Roxana? Isn't that the name of that duke's concubine who ran the slave trade? She was a pretty scummy character in the book.
Aeri? I can't say I remember that name. But the last name was way, way too familiar.
Beatrix Throne
She was portrayed as a scheming princess and was extremely arrogant. She treated the servants around her like trash, constantly looking down on everyone near her. Furthermore, she was the first-arc villain who messed with the protagonist in the novel. Later on, as the story progressed, she completely succumbed to the author's cheap clichés and fell mindlessly in love with the main character, ending up as a pathetic woman joining his massive harem.
Still, I guess she's the smartest choice among them. At least she holds serious political power and the protected areas of the kingdom. Her siblings were also genuinely powerful folks. Even if I didn't want to, I'd have a fantastic immunity shield, right?
At worst, I can grab as much gold from the treasury as I can carry, slip away without looking back, and go live a wealthy life tucked away in some corner of this world. I won't even need to bother dealing with the idiot protagonist.
I guess I should stop hesitating. I don't think I want to be a concubine or a peasant.
I slowly stretched out my finger and tapped on Beatrix Throne.
[Beatrix Throne successfully selected!]
[You have 5 customization points available for your character!]
[Character Template:
Name: Beatrix Throne
Age: 15
Title: Bully Princess
Ability: Intermediate Fire Magic
Personality: Has a bullying and arrogant personality, doesn't care about people around her. Treats her friends like servants.
Appearance: Long blond hair, green eyes, 160 cm height, pretty face.]
I stared at the screen in front of me for a moment. Wait, I actually have the chance to customize the character? I wonder if things trigger each other? Like, if I change her personality, does her title change too?
Aren't there way too many possibilities? Hmm. I think I found a few things I'm gonna tweak.
[You have used all your character customization rights!]
[Initiating transfer...]
With the disappearance of the screen in front of me, I started feeling much more sluggish and numb to my surroundings. So moving into a new body feels like this? Being reborn...
It doesn't feel half bad at all.
--- Third Person POV ---
As the soul vanished from that dark, hazy area with a blue flash, a man with long white hair and a long black robe looked at the exact spot where it had just disappeared.
"I really need to stop being this careless," the figure muttered to himself.
"I actually managed to accidentally drop my toothpick and take an innocent person's life…"
"Seriously, what a record-breaking achievement." He let out a helpless sigh.
"Oh well, hope she's happier in her new life inside that trashy novel. Because of my screw-up, I even gave her character customization rights anyway."
"The rest is out of my hands."
The figure shrugged slightly. Just as he was about to vanish completely, another soul suddenly appeared in the darkness.
"Huh, what?" the figure turned to the soul in astonishment. That was a restricted, special area. He couldn't figure out how an extra soul had managed to get in there.
"But how..."
He paused for a second and started thinking. Then he immediately patted himself down.
"Great…"
"My car keys…"
"Looks like I've got one more job to do."
A blue screen opened up in front of the soul as the tiny soul was already well on its way toward its new body.
"I really should think about retiring."
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